Ülgen is the supreme benevolent deity of Shor religion, creator of the earth and of living beings and lord of the uppermost of the three worlds, the Ülgen-çer or upper world. He is the master of the good spirits and the patron of humankind, invoked under the honorifics Bay-Ülgen ('Rich Ülgen') and Kaira-Kan ('Merciful Khan'), the latter sometimes treated as an independent high creator. In the widely recorded creation narrative he raises soil from the primal waters to shape the world, and the broken, mountainous relief of Shoria is explained as the residue of soil hoarded and then spat out by his brother and adversary Erlik. Sources differ on whether Kaira-Kan names Ülgen himself or a still higher creator standing above him.